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The Coiley Family - SV Double Waters - Cuba
The Travelog of Poco Andante - Keith Hunt

Reports
Cienfuegos – 22°06.43'N, 80°34.50'W
Marina Hemmingway – 23°10.00'N, 82°20.00'W
Marina Vita – 21°23.55'N, 76°17.55'W

Also, notes on 16 Harbours and Anchorages, scroll down

Cienfuegos
Place Name: Cienfuegos , Cuba Latitude and Longitude: 22° 02.16’N 80° 27.27’W Date of Information: March 2008 Submitted by: Graeme & Gillian Mulcahy Entry to the bay (via a well buoyed channel) is at 22°02.16’N 80°27.27’W; the marina is at 22°07.51’N 80°27.13’W It is off the officially available Cuban charts but good guidance in Nigel Calder 's pilot book. Santiago de Cuba , was closed, which meant the next available port of entry on the south coast was Cienfuegos. With reference to the Nigel Calder cruising guide to Cuba, Manzanillo and Casilda are no longer ports of entry, the only other on the south coast being Cayo Largo. Cienfuegos transpired to be a good centre to get a flavour of Cuba and from which to visit Havana, which ought to be on everybody 's list. Apart bringing excessive paperwork (but little more than is experienced in other Carribean countries), the officials were all very friendly. The closure of Santiago was confirmed by those officials who could not provide any information as why or for how long the closure would last.

Marina Hemmingway
Marina Hemmingway, Nr Havana, Cuba Approx 23°10N, 82°20W A message from José Miguel Díaz Escrich Commodore, Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba OCC Port Officer Cuba yachtclub@cnih.mh.cyt.cu It is a pleasure to greet you kindly on behalf of the Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba and on my own, as well as to reiterate that it is an honour for me to represent the Ocean Cruising Club in Cuba. We will be happy of giving you the warmest welcome to the members of OCC that visit us and offer them all our collaboration for a happy sailing through the Cuban coasts.
With great pleasure I inform you that the Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba has its seat in Marina Hemingway, the most important marina in Cuba to 15 minutes of the centre of Havana and has more than 400 docks for recreational boats of any kind. Our Yacht Club is located at the end of the third channel of Marina Hemingway that has four channels of 1 km long, 30 metres wide and between 4 and 5 metres depth. Marina Hemingway has some restaurants, coffee shop, fuel and rent a car. This complex belongs to the government.
Up to now, the Club does not have an area of mooring of its own. We are analyzing the possibility of renting a dock area to the dockage company owner of the port. So far, the yachtsmen that arrive to Marina Hemingway may enjoy a discount in dockage if they join our yacht club. In their crossing through Cuban waters, the members of the OCC always will receive our help and assistance for a safe and happy sailing through our archipelago. We are working with the Cuban coast guard for a security joint program for the boats that sail through our coasts. We also keep close links with all Cuban marinas, we inform them about the arrival of the yachtsmen to these so they can offer them all necessary help.

Marina Vita
Place Name: Marina Vita, Cuba Latitude and Longitude: 21°05.800´N, 075°57.920´W Date of Information: April 2008 Submitted by: Commodore Escrich, OCC Port Officer Cuba Comment: Marina Vita position: Entrance channels Vita Bay, 21°05.800´ N 075°57.920´W Entrance channels Marina Vita 21°04.711´N, 075°57.361’W It pleases me to greet you on behalf of Hemingway International Yacht Club of Cuba of Cuba and on my own, as well as to inform you that Marina Santiago de Cuba was reopen. Now, the vessels can arrive to that marina in order to make the clearance.
As Ocean Cruising Club Port Officer in Cuba, Commodore Escrich offers information and assistance in the cruise that the members of Ocean Cruising Club wish to make in Cuba and surrounding waters, including the necessary coordination with the Cuban port authorities. He would advise all members of OCC, that wish to cruise in Cuba, to contact Hemmingway International Yacht Club yachtclub@cnih.mh.cyt.cu before arriving to any Cuban marina. It gives us the possibility to inform to Cuban marinas that this vessel belong to OCC who represented in Cuba by Commodore Escrich. This helps to make the clearance faster and coordinate the cruising along Cuban coast with the coast guard in order to avoid any annoyance.

Notes on 16 Harbours and Anchorages
Cuba

Contributed by Dave Beane & Sarah Stevens - S/Y Tao

Our comments are on the places visited between 1611 February and 1st April 2001.

We recently spent 2 months cruising the north Cuban coast in our Hughes 40 ketch Tao.

We used the 1999 edition of Nigel Calder’s “Cuba A Cruising Guide” and found it to be excellent, especially the chartlet information. We also used the Cuban Chart Kits which were also adequate although to be used with some circumspection.
Varadero

Our port of entry. The officials friendly and helpful although it is as well to keep an eye open during any search, some shower gel and a pair of shorts disappeared during one such search. Facilities good with a good restaurant, fuel available and Chart Kits on sale at $40 or $50. Fresh veg and bread available in local market. Cruising yachts are not allowed to use their dinghies around the marina and also not allowed to anchor in the Bahia de Cardenas.
Bahia de Cadiz

Sheltered anchorage with good holding and easy entry. No officials seen. Ensenada del Jorobado No change to your book
Boca Chica

No observed changes to your book - friendly fishermen traded for fish and lobster.
Cayo Frances

Checked in with Garda on Ch 16, otherwise no contact with officialdom.
Caiman Grande

Pretty anchorage. No contact with officials except on VHF.
Guillermo

A port of entry but very shallow, we draw only 1.5m but touched bottom just past the white buoy, which is now so rusty that it appears to be red. Basic groceries, fuel and water available. We would not recommend entry to any boat drawing more than 5 feet or at night or with any kind of sea running. Minimum of officialdom, we were cleared in and out by one official only. We anchored off the jetty which is both very shallow and totally occupied by both fishing and dive boats. There is an international telephone facility in the nearby hotel grounds.
Cayo Coca

There are now a pair of red and green entry buoys nos 2 & 3 in position 2231.4N 7818.7W, also there is now substantial red marker No 4 at the end of the sand spit at 2230.4N 7818.6W. The marina as per your guide is now a small military base although we did anchor for the night with the permission of the duty officer. We did not manage to find the current marina but believe it to be somewhere on the northwest side of Ensenada Bautista which is very shallow so probably good oniy for very shallow draught.
Paredon Grande

Anchored near lighthouse in your recommended spot. No problem.

Marina Vita 21° 05.48 'N 75° 57.36 'W Entry buoy 21° 05.35 'N 75° 57.48 'W

Is a port of entry which replaces Bahia Naranja as the Port of entry. Initial entry is quite straight forward but the channel is twisty although well marked. The marina sends a small launch to guide newcomers in to the final approach to the marina. Mooring is bows to with the stern on two mooring buoys with assistance from the marina launch. This marina is impressive with extremely helpful officials and where the lady who runs the marina goes to great lengths to ensure her guests well being. Gasoline and diesel are available. Electricity and water on the pontoon are included in the 45 cents per foot per day charge.. We have a spare copy of the Marina Vita brochure should you require it. Propane, gasoline & diesel are available on a separate fuel dock. Car hire is also available at around $60 per day.
Bahia de Nipe

Now seems to be no problem with taking a dinghy ashore. Only official met was the Port Captain This was the only time that we were refused permission to go to a port which was nominated as a Puerto Intermedio on our Despachio. The port captain required us to go direct to Baracoa rather than our requested stop at the Bahia de Cebolla.
Bahia de Naranjas

Although this is now a National Park we did go in to anchor overnight because of adverse weather. We checked with Marina Vita by VHF and had no hassle. The Marine Centre in Naranjas is well worth a visit with an excellent dolphin show.
Puerto Padre

Entered after dark and anchored. Asked to move by Garda but this was because of the imminent arrival of a large cargo ship.
Marina Hemingway

Noisy and brash ie not to our taste although officials OK and did not ask for any "presents". Electrical hookups still frighteningly jury rigged.
Bahia Honda

Much more relaxed than during your visit. One official only so clear in and out very quick. We were allowed to anchor in Ensenada Santa Teresa. Some of the channel buoys were not light equipped as advertised but the entrance is straightforward and we found no problem with a night entry using radar, GPS and eyeball navigation.
Cayo Paraiso

Much Hurricane modified since your visit. The western spit of land as shown on your sketch is now a sandbank with about a foot of water over it. Also we touched bottom with 5 ft draught just between the stakes on your chartlet. Still a good anchorage but not in a norther.
Cayo Leviso

Anchored just off the dock but had to move out when the wind shifted. No problem as we could go across to be in the lee of the mainland shore opposite. We did not use your recommended route but instead took the deeper marked pass which is to the east of the sand spit.
General Comments

Although this was our first visit to Cuba we got the impression that things have become much more relaxed since your visit. We also felt that the officials may have been given strict instructions vis a vis taking of presents etc. In two places they refused a small gift telling us that it was not permitted. We feel that we may have exploded quite a lot of folklore regarding availability of such things as fresh bread and vegetables which we had no problem in obtaining. It certainly helps to have a reasonable amount of Spanish to allow communication with the locals.

We ate out several times in Casas particulares which were good value and excellent for Spanish practice, and stayed overnight in paradors in both Havana and Santiago at around $25-30 in Havana and $15-20 in Santiago (per room/night).

We used the excellent Varadero - Havana twice daily air conditioned coach service at $10 each way (goes from the coach station in Varadero but will drop off at the marina on the return journey) We hired a car at Marina Vita and drove to Santiago.

Gasoline is available at the tourist garages to be found in most sizeable towns. Car hire around $60 per day. No problems apart from the potholes and getting lost several times. Diesel was $0.65c per litre and marinas around $0.45c per foot.

Our advice would be for yachts to avoid the main marinas where possible and to use smaller places where the officialdom is minimal. Also when using these anchorages we always called the local garda on Ch 16 to advise them of our intentions.

We were intercepted during a night passage by a Garda patrol boat but they were extremely courteous, just requested our details and bade us a safe and happy voyage.

The telephone service in Cuba was not found to be very reliable and was also expensive, calis to UK @ $4.40 and USA $2.20 per minute. We also experienced difficulty in using Pocketmail, either the device would not connect or many of our emails were returned even though we had used a valid address,

Buoyage was generally in good condition and as per chart although we did find that some "lit" buoys were not light equipped on the entrance to Bahia Honda.

We intend to return in 2002 to cruise the south coast. Our HF conversations with two OCC yachts who were on the south coast seemed to indicate that they were experiencing much the same atmosphere and welcome as we were on the north coast. We hope this information will be of use to you.

If you have any questions please feel free to email us at davebeane@hotmail.com. We also have our website www.taoyacht.com